Springsteen organist Charles Giordano

[sagetunes]

Saw Bruce last night in Boston---fantastic. I couldn't find the Leslie, and I was close, behind him.

Anyone know? Perhaps under the stage? Vent?

[SamuelBLupowitz]

@Outkasteris a huge Springsteen aficionado; he might know. I know there was a period when Dan Federici was still alive that he dropped the Leslie and used a Boss Leslie sim, but I don’t know if they’ve continued to use a sim or if they have Leslies under the stage like The Rolling Stones do (though they were running Chuck Leavell’s B3 through a Vent for awhile too!).

[Outkaster]

Yes they went to a boss pedal in the early 2000's I think around the rising tour.  In fact Dan's last performance was in 3/20/2008 when they flew him from s loan kettering to Indianapolis.  E-Street radio had the show on  yesterday. Cancer had gotten into his hands but you would have never known it.  Bruce had him up for some songs.  His tech changed. Sam the original organ was that tech that came into your band till Marty took over.   There are two B-3s on is a back up.  I'm going tomorrow night.  As far as I know there isn't a Leslie below stage. I can ask around though.  Totally an underrated player.

[Morrissey]

The only time I play a real Leslie anymore is when I'm in a room so small it doesn't need to be mic'ed.  If the audience is going to hear it through the PA, the sims do the job just fine... as these highest tier acts have proven.

[ABECK]

I remember a keyboard mag article from a looooooooooong time ago where he indicated at the time, they were keeping the Leslie off stage, in a road case, with a mic on it.

[George88]

I met Charles a few years ago after a show in Nashvile and he told me he had a Leslie off stage at the time.  That was then, hard to say now.  
 

[linwood]

Here's an old board tape I still have of the Bruce Springsteen Band....couple years before Greetings.

[Outkaster]

21 hours ago, ABECK said:

I remember a keyboard mag article from a looooooooooong time ago where he indicated at the time, they were keeping the Leslie off stage, in a road case, with a mic on it.

I would have to look for it but I remember hearing that about the Leslie because of the bleed from other mics.  Years ago he'd have his Leslie to the left or behind him.  I know the Stones did that because Al Goff made a road case that could hold the mics right in it and that was for the Steel Wheels tour.  I would think that would suck having the Leslie just in a monitor off it.  A lot of the Hammond and Leslie effect happens just with the presence of the instrument onstage.

[SamuelBLupowitz]

57 minutes ago, Outkaster said:

I would have to look for it but I remember hearing that about the Leslie because of the bleed from other mics.  Years ago he'd have his Leslie to the left or behind him.  I know the Stones did that because Al Goff made a road case that could hold the mics right in it and that was for the Steel Wheels tour.  I would think that would suck having the Leslie just in a monitor off it.  A lot of the Hammond and Leslie effect happens just with the presence of the instrument onstage.

I read that about the Stones too; I imagine that's part of why they wound up just switching over to a Vent (though my understanding is that the Leslies made a return at some point).

 

Slightly OT, but I remember reading once that John Paul Jones had to keep his Leslie offstage, usually in a dressing room or something, because Zeppelin was just too loud onstage to mic it up. Sometimes a stagehand would wander into the dressing room and his voice would go through the PA... I suspect that may have had something to do with why JPJ ditched the Hammond for other keyboards and synth bass pedals in the early 70s.

 

My understanding is that the current E Street Band tour is back to the expanded lineup (with backing vocalists and horn section) from the Wrecking Ball tour. I guess it's still tough to deal with that kind of onstage bleed with a Leslie. But also, if there's someone else whose job it is to move and carry it, I wouldn't complain having the real thing, even if it's offstage.  

[bill bosco]

if they were using the vent , i wonder why they went back to miking a leslie ? i had read that the stones had one on stage but were using a vent for the house 

[SamuelBLupowitz]

38 minutes ago, bill bosco said:

if they were using the vent , i wonder why they went back to miking a leslie ? i had read that the stones had one on stage but were using a vent for the house 

Okay, sorry to keep dragging us slightly OT, but I found this interview with Chuck from last year that's full of cool tidbits: https://www.musicradar.com/news/chuck-leavell-rolling-stones-1

 

I pasted the relevent info below. Now if only someone can find a similar interview talking about the Springsteen keys...

 

You’re obviously an amazing pianist too, but surely you’re not bringing a full-size piano out with The Stones these days?

 

“Well, thank God for the digital age. Technology is so amazing. I’m using a Yamaha CP-4 for piano. And there’s a specialised phased Rhodes sound on there that I use. There’s also a Wurlitzer and that’s the real deal. I’ve yet to hear a digital reproduction of the Wurlitzer that’s as accurate as it needs to be, so I use the real thing. I use a real Hammond, too. Used to be the original Hammond B3 but I’ve retired that now and now use an XK-5. It’s still made by Hammond. Suzuki bought the Hammond name many years ago and they’ve worked really hard to recreate the sound of a B3 and they’ve finally done it. I’m really, really pleased with this instrument.” 

 

Does that have a Leslie on it as well?

 

“I use a pedal called The Ventilator. A friend of mine, Greg Black, is a Hammond organ technician. He owns Black Hammond who do great work on Hammond organs, and he turned me on to it. I tried it in rehearsals and I was amazed. The first time I used it the sound man said ‘Man, that thing sounds incredible’. We used to have a Leslie inside an isolated case, but you still get a muffled sound and the wind sound of the horn spinning round but with this pedal just get a direct sound without any distraction. I’m very happy with it.”

[Outkaster]

6 hours ago, SamuelBLupowitz said:

I read that about the Stones too; I imagine that's part of why they wound up just switching over to a Vent (though my understanding is that the Leslies made a return at some point).

 

Slightly OT, but I remember reading once that John Paul Jones had to keep his Leslie offstage, usually in a dressing room or something, because Zeppelin was just too loud onstage to mic it up. Sometimes a stagehand would wander into the dressing room and his voice would go through the PA... I suspect that may have had something to do with why JPJ ditched the Hammond for other keyboards and synth bass pedals in the early 70s.

 

My understanding is that the current E Street Band tour is back to the expanded lineup (with backing vocalists and horn section) from the Wrecking Ball tour. I guess it's still tough to deal with that kind of onstage bleed with a Leslie. But also, if there's someone else whose job it is to move and carry it, I wouldn't complain having the real thing, even if it's offstage.  

  Some of the horns are different.  Cindy Mizelle isn't on this tour but the rest of the band is there.  I am going to Buffalo right now so I will take inventory of the stage gear.

[Outkaster]

Last night I was feeling halfheartedly about going to Buffalo. I go through periods of time where I don’t listen to Bruce, I always come back to it though. I had heard some stuff on E-Street radio and I didn’t like the mixes. I was worried the show wouldn't be that great. I should know better....

It was a rough start last night, and we got there late. Everything was going wrong from when we set foot out the door. We got to the arena and someone had took our seats so security got involved and kicked them out. They acted stupid about it but they at least apologized to me. My seats were in section 306 which was very high up. I was exactly a level up from where we were in 11/22/2009. Our seats were better even in 2012 and 2016. My fiancé is from the Caribbean and she was on her 5th show. She really goes for me, but ended up having a great time.

There were a couple things with the songs I wished the band stuck to the original arrangements on but that’s a small thing. I could see the stage and partially under it.  No Leslie that I could see.  I think they were using Yamaha gear also.  Usually Charlie uses Nord and Kurzwiel. Anyway I was surprised at the band having fun and laughing off any mistakes they made. I noticed there was a huge thread in the music throughout the night about death and getting older. Most of us are at that age or close to it. I thought he got teary-eyed in Backstreets in the interlude? I am not sure what you guys noticed that were there, that’s just how it looked. It was cool to see the percussion player Anthony Almonte singing along. He probably wasn’t even born when a lot of the music was written but it was cool to see. He's a NYC guy so he fits in! The horn section killed it also. They work great together as a unit. Roy was great as usual and is my focal point in the band along with Gary and Max.  Roy had his Yamaha grand and two other boards.  Charlie just seems kind of there most of the time but is important nonetheless. To see guys their age doing this is amazing. There are guys in their 20’s, in bands, that probably couldn’t keep up that pace. It was interesting to see most of Born to Run played. I hadn’t heard that many songs together in one show ever.

Part me wonders if this is it for these guys? The last acoustic song was interesting. I am glad I went though, seeing smiling fans on their way out is something you don’t see at a lot of concerts. Things are so dreary and negative in the world lately and it’s nice to get uplifted once in awhile. The power of music can transcend peoples problems sometimes. I think we all need that boost in our lives.

[SamuelBLupowitz]

13 minutes ago, Outkaster said:

Part me wonders if this is it for these guys? The last acoustic song was interesting. I am glad I went though, seeing smiling fans on their way out is something you don’t see at a lot of concerts. Things are so dreary and negative in the world lately and it’s nice to get uplifted once in awhile. The power of music can transcend peoples problems sometimes. I think we all need that boost in our lives.

This is one of the biggest reasons I wanted to make sure I caught at least one show on this tour, despite the astronomically high ticket prices. The decade since I saw him last just flew by, and my wife is a huge fan of Bruce's songwriting but has never seen him live. It's amazing to see McCartney and Elton John doing huge shows at their age, but neither of them put on shows with the sheer stamina and athleticism as Bruce, and you gotta see it while you still can.

[JohnH]

This tour is the first one ive followed on the Facebook groups, plus one of my Bruce tribute band drummers is texting me setlists and me him if we aren't on FB checking the posts out. Last night was the longest night of the tour at 2:50. Most shows have been around 2:40. Trapped is one of my favorites and has been played a few times on the tour including last night. The last song is called "See you in My Dreams" and many fans have speculated it's a farewell piece just in case there are no more tours. It's great for someone like Bruce to have a new album out like Letter to You and have several songs in the set. These are great. Bruce stated on a recent podcast he still loves touring and hotels and being in different towns. 

 

[JohnH]

You would think after over 15 years in the band people would take pics of Charlie as he showed up to rehearsals. We got pics of just about everyone but him every day when they were in Redbank a couple of months ago. He's invisible and fans don't seem to know who he is. 🤦‍♂️

[sagetunes]

24 minutes ago, JohnH said:

You would think after over 15 years in the band people would take pics of Charlie as he showed up to rehearsals. We got pics of just about everyone but him every day when they were in Redbank a couple of months ago. He's invisible and fans don't seem to know who he is. 🤦‍♂️

Charlie gets no love whatsoever. When all the guys and gals came onto the stage, he got the least love, and in the intros as well, but then again who cares. He does the Danny job very well, but he's more technician than rock star. The B3 was a bit low in the mix in Boston.

I was actually blown away and inspired by Bruce in Boston. Kitty's Back was epic. Ghosts is now among my fave Bruce tunes right now, and maybe ever.

God Bless them All.

[Doerfler]

I'm going Monday night in DC (March 27) and have tickets to 2 stadium shows late summer 2023. 

 

Will update this thread should I see/find out anything.

 

Back on topic, I first saw Charles with Bruce during "The Seeger Sessions", been over 15 years now, I'm guessing.

 

This was not an E Street Band release

[JohnH]

20 minutes ago, Doerfler said:

I'm going Monday night in DC (March 27) and have tickets to 2 stadium shows late summer 2023. 

 

Will update this thread should I see/find out anything.

 

Back on topic, I first saw Charles with Bruce during "The Seeger Sessions", been over 15 years now, I'm guessing.

 

This was not an E Street Band release

that is right, he goes back to then as well.

[Ivan May]

Charlie Giordano is a great keyboard player and accordion player. Love his work with The boss!

 

Prior to playing in the E Street Band, Charlie Giordano also played keybaords on some of the albums Pat Benatar put out in the Eighties.

[Outkaster]

Charlie has hard shoes to fill.  It's impossible as he wasn't been there from the beginning.  The classic "shore sound" was invented by Roy and Dan, not as much Sancious.  I don't agree that he is filling Dan's shoes that well and Dan wasn't a "rock star". I was near him on the last tour and Roy actually covered solo's that Dan came up with on a couple of the River tunes. Charlie will tell you himself he is a different player ( no fault of his own). When he came on board in 2008 he was very, very nervous about the gig.  What Bruce needs is people who have instincts for his music and the style.  Dan was also an awesome accordion player.  Hear his isolated tracks sometimes, it's very cool how he played.  The band definitely hasn't been the same since he and Clarence passed. 

[Legatoboy]

I was bumped for a gig out east in the Hamptons in 2008 by Charlie 2 weeks before he went into the E. Street... actually we had hear Charlie was going into the E/ Street before everyone else I think ...The band I as working with really owned the east end for gigs and the dough was always way above par so Charlie G. had a good reason to sit in, that band had a rotating keyboard chair and they kind of said, listen this hot shot pro is sitting in next week...so your bumped for 1 week .... I eventually got into and caught up with his playing.... his website then had him  accordion focused and I believe said 'The Accordion Man' or something like that.....but I see he can really get around on piano and organ too..... nice player.  Brooklyn born and raised I believe....   

[Outkaster]

He is a Brooklyn Italian guy so he fits into that Tri-State vibe.  I just don't think he has the same instincts that Dan did. He also didn't develop a sound....that would be tough for anybody. He seems like a good dude though. For Bruce life was not always easy with Dan Federici and his addictions would get in the way.  It took him a long time to come back from that but what a player.  Speaking of Charlie here he is with Roy and Neils in 2013.  This reminds me of my mother and living in Italy:

 

 

[LarsHarner2]

I saw the Philly show - he's my 4th favorite.  He played my favorite She's The One. To me the Rising took on a whole new meaning as it was the first time back for me seeing the band since before the pandemic.

 

I think I'll See You In My Dreams is a great song; he did it on Broadway during the second run in '21 after the pandemic.

 

The show is sequenced very well, I have been going to see him since the late 90's.

 

[Legatoboy]

On 3/27/2023 at 9:36 AM, Outkaster said:

He is a Brooklyn Italian guy so he fits into that Tri-State vibe.  I just don't think he has the same instincts that Dan did. He also didn't develop a sound....that would be tough for anybody. He seems like a good dude though. For Bruce life was not always easy with Dan Federici and his addictions would get in the way.  It took him a long time to come back from that but what a player.  Speaking of Charlie here he is with Roy and Neils in 2013.  This reminds me of my mother and living in Italy:

 

 

That's hilarious to me, .... I started on accordion, thank god there was a piano in the house... really not a bad axe in a pinch... the town synthesizer of old... and portable.. 2 registers. Yes Danny F. did have a lot of style and technique, I eventually came to realize that at some point as a player ... I was unaware of the personal problems other than I had heard Bruce mentioned he was difficult to work with somewhere.... I think in a quip. 

[MathOfInsects]

I abandoned Springsteen so hard when he entered his shark-jump years that until this thread I didn't realize Danny Federici had passed. 

[Outkaster]

Passed in 2008.  I have a blog written somewhere I gave his son.  Bruce never really  jumped the shark.  His concerts are just as good if not better than any of his peers in that age group.

[MathOfInsects]

He rode a shark right into the camera at the Superbowl one year.

[Outkaster]

That is indicative of his career.  Something the NFL asked him to do and plenty of groups have done it.  Doesn't mean it defines their career.